With SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild) now officially joining the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America) on the picket line after talks failed to move forward today and a vote was cast, the immediate future of essentially all television and film projects across Hollywood is now set to come to a nearly complete standstill. As yet more shockwaves rattle the industry, it of course leaves audiences everywhere wondering the fate of particular shows and movies, from productions to release dates. One of the biggest is HBO’sHouse of the Dragon, which so far has gone unimpeded by theWGA strikethanks to completed scripts, the show’s entire production being based over in Europe with a U.K. cast, and just serendipitous timing on top of it all. Now, per areport from Variety, all of those same reasons are keeping the show’s second season on track despite SAG now joining the fray.
Related:New Details Revealed about House of the Dragon Season 2’s Battle of the Gullet
House of the Dragonis the latest high fantasy spin-off ofGame of Thronesfrom HBO, created by Ryan Condal in tandem with original author and executive producer George R.R. Martin. The series is set as a prequel toGame of Thrones, taking place nearly two centuries prior to those events and focused entirely on one of the most iconic great houses in Westeros, the dragon-riding Targaryens. Specifically, each ofthe planned multiple seasonschronicles the devastating civil war among the Targaryens that ensues, known as the Dance of the Dragons, and ultimately leads to the tragic downfall of nearly the entire family line.
The cast includes an array of remarkable talent, such as Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Rhys Ifans, and Olivia Cooke. Familiar faces such as epic composer Ramin Dijwadi and director/writer Miguel Sapochnik both returned after the end ofGame of Thronesfor the new series, to lend their magic to what turned out to be an incredible first season that broke viewership records with each episode. On top of it all, the show has been nominated by the Academy for 8 Emmy Awards this year, including Outstanding Drama Series.
Why Exactly House of the Dragon Isn’t Affected By the Strike
However, with all the acclaim and now even greater anticipation for the second season, the elephant in the room of pretty much every current production across the industry right now is the WGA strike, which is now officially welcoming all of SAG-AFTRA to the picket line after yet more failed talks and today’s vote for the U.S.-based actor’s union to join the strike, a historic event that last happened over 60 years ago. The decision will rock all of Hollywood to the core, very likely bringing just about everything to a standstill with actors joining writers in solidarity.
However, while its local productions will face those consequences, HBO’sHouse of the Dragonremains unfettered because its production is based overseas primarily in Ireland and the U.K. Not only that, its U.K.-based cast means that the entire show operations under the rules of the local union, known as Equity. While notable figures in the U.K. film and television industry have held their own public protests recently in regards to similar problems in their unions, laws mandate that Equity cannot strike in cooperative tandem with the union of another country.
As such, there is no red tape forHouse of the Dragon to get politically subdivided by, and production is still going as initially planned. Scripts have long since been completed, and the projected release date for the second season remains unchanged from Summer of 2024, as of right now.
